Paternal Dominion
by Daine
Summary: How did Magneto know to interfere with the infamous television broadcast the night of the soccer game? Maybe he keeps a closer watch on the Brotherhood than they suspect...


A/N: How did Magneto know to interrupt the TV broadcasting of the game? Maybe he's keeping a bit closer watch on the Brotherhood than they thought…

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em.

Paternal Dominion 

Pietro ran home as fast as he could without breaking the sound barrier – a sonic boom in the middle of Bayville would be slightly conspicuous. Lance had dropped Fred and Toad off downtown before heading to work, so Pietro had the house to himself for a precious few hours. It was time to do what he had put off for too long.

He reached the boarding house in roughly 30 seconds. He would have been there sooner, but he had to be careful to stay on back roads so no one would notice a black blur race past them.

Pietro hesitated. The house would be empty until at least five. He didn't have to do it now. There had to be something else he could do…

No. If he didn't do it now he'd have better excuses later. He bit his lip for a moment, then raced upstairs to his room. After digging in his closet for a few seconds, he emerged with a little black object in his hands.

A cell phone.

To be more exact, it was _Magneto's_ cell phone. His number was pre-programmed into it, and Pietro had been threatened with his life if he attempted to use it for anything other than to contact his boss - and worse if his housemates found out about it. 

Pietro sighed. He was long overdue for a report. Nevertheless, he just didn't feel like checking in. Part of him, he supposed, was resentful that he and his friends had been left to fend for themselves. That part wanted to call up Magneto and yell at him until they got a better place to live, or at least enough money to get something decent to eat for a change. The other part of him, the smarter part, told him to shut up and do his job if he wanted to keep what little he possessed. 

He stopped his mental tirade and dialed. _Ring…ring…_

_Come on, _Pietro thought. _Answer the phone already! _Just then, he heard the gentle _click _as the phone was picked up. No one said anything, but that was expected. Magneto never spoke first on the phone. "Hey, Dad, it's me – " The connection cut off abruptly. He glared at the offending device in his hand. Why wouldn't Magneto allow his son to call him by name? He rolled his eyes and redialed.

This time he addressed Magneto correctly. "Quicksilver reporting in, sir."

"Very good." Pietro shivered slightly. Even across a phone line, his father's voice spoke of power and promises. "What so you have to tell me?"

"Lan – Avalanche has decided to reveal himself as a mutant, sir." There was silence as Magneto thought this over. Pietro was disappointed – just once he had hoped for Magneto to lose his iron control and react to one of his reports. 

"I see." His voice was perfectly neutral. "And what do you want me to do about it?"

"Blob and Toad agree with Avalanche. I can't change their minds. They plan to show everyone tonight at the soccer playoffs – which is being covered by live television."

"…"

"_Sir,_" Pietro added sarcastically. "We can't afford to let the news footage get out. It would be too dangerous."

"So I take it you wish me to interfere with the television studio."

"Something like that would be nice, yeah," Pietro said snidely. _Duh, _he thought. 

"I believe you have forgotten one factor – Xavier."

Pietro shrugged. "What can he do? Erase the memory of _every single person_ in the stands?" He sniggered.

"Pietro." The voice had barely changed, but he cringed at the reprimand in Magneto's voice. "Never underestimate your enemy. I know I have taught you that."

"Must have slipped my mind. Sir." Pietro didn't care much, really. He didn't see that it much mattered if he underestimated them or not – their abilities would be the same either way.

Magneto decided to let that remark slide. "At any rate, Xavier does not need to change everyone's memories. If he manages to do the majority, that will be enough. The ones who do remember the truth will doubt it when they hear conflicting tales. However, that is enough of that. I will interfere with the broadcast. Do you have anything else to report?"

Pietro hesitated. He heard his own voice say, "Nothing, sir," as his mind whirled with indecision. Magneto had hung up before he made up his mind.

Pietro slowly lowered the phone from his ear. Earlier events played in his head.

_"We know what Lance is doing here. He wants to get a certain Kitty stuck in a tree." _

_"Aw, come on, Kitty.  I said I was sorry about the score board thing…" _

_Lance, reaching out for Kitty's hand. Kitty, smiling at Lance as a grin lit up his face._

He still hadn't told his father about Lance's apparent obsession with Kitty. For a long time, he had forced himself to believe that Lance was only interested in recruiting her, but he simply couldn't do that anymore. The way Lance lit up in her vicinity was too obvious to ignore. 

Pietro ran his hands along the phone, thinking fast. It would be so easy to call up his father right now and tell him about Lance. After all, Magneto trusted him with telling him everything about his teammates – and Pietro well knew that Magneto considered fraternizing with the enemy one of the basest forms of treachery. Of course, he also knew the type of punishments Magneto was likely to give. Some of them he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. _Except maybe Daniels…_

_If I call him now, he'll know I've been hiding stuff from him, _Pietro decided finally. _Then I won't have his trust if I ever really need it. _Besides, watching Lance chase Kitty was entertaining on the dull days. 

The other reason for his silence rose up in his mind, despite attempts to suppress it. _Besides, we could all use a little happiness lately…_

He slapped his head at the thought. What was wrong with him? He'd be writing sappy cards for Hallmark next. Pietro snorted at the thought. 

Voices made him look up. It sounded like Todd, but what was he doing home? Within a second after that thought, Pietro appeared downstairs. He stared.

Todd was rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically. Fred watched him bemusedly as the youngest member of the Brotherhood crashed into the couch. Pietro caught sight of exactly what had made him so amused and started to laugh himself.

Lance stood in the middle of the Brotherhood's living room, soaked in soda and whipped cream.

"Lance…what…" Pietro managed to choke out between guffaws. 

Todd looked up, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Kitty…showed up at Lance's work," he gasped. "Lance was so busy staring at her that he forgot about the sodas he was filling…" He stopped, overcome with mirth. 

Pietro sighed. "Fred?"

"Uh…yeah! And then, the lady he was serving thought he was staring at her, and she got mad."

"And she'd just been to Baskin Robbins," Todd added, taking up the story.

Pietro stared at Lance, who flushed angrily. "All right! So what?" Pietro burst out laughing, causing Lance to go even redder. "Forget you guys! I'm gonna go change. And you should too – the soccer game is tonight!"

Pietro's laughter faltered at that. He pushed away his uneasiness – Magneto would fix everything. He had to count on that. Firmly he put the thought out of his mind, and turned his fertile brain to thinking of new ways to humiliate Lance over this recent Kitty-related disaster.

Dad would take care of everything. 

He could only hope he was right. 

I beg of you to review.


End file.
